Improvements will be carried out to more than 3,000 council homes. The investment plan will also drive forward the council鈥檚 house-building strategy.
Edinburgh aims to be one of the first local authorities in Scotland to pilot a 鈥榳hole house retrofit鈥� approach to support the council鈥檚 net-zero-carbon commitment.
Councillor Kate Campbell, convener of the housing, homelessness and fair work committee, said: 鈥淲e鈥檙e really scaling up our efforts to improve the condition of people鈥檚 homes and driving forward our housebuilding programme, so that residents can have permanent homes that are energy efficient, safe and affordable.
鈥淥ur ambition has been to deliver 20,000 affordable new homes by 2027 and we鈥檙e well on the way to achieving that despite the pandemic and Brexit, which have been really challenging for construction.
鈥淎nd now we鈥檙e having to navigate a cost-of-living crisis, so we have set a rent freeze for our tenants to support them through this. But, longer term, all the work we鈥檙e doing now to make homes much more sustainable will also help us to drive down fuel bills. The steps we鈥檙e taking to make better use of shared greenspaces is also important for tenants鈥� wellbeing.
鈥淥ur investment plan for the year ahead will make a big difference to our tenants, both their quality of life in their homes, and to their cost of living.
Councillor Mandy Watt, vice convener of the housing, homelessness and fair work committee, said: 鈥淭here are huge pressures on housing in Edinburgh and those on low incomes continue to be the most affected by high rents and high bills. Housebuilding has a role to play in providing more affordable and energy efficient homes, and to help us meet the city鈥檚 growing demand for accommodation.
鈥淲hile funding and land supply remain two key challenges, we鈥檙e doing a lot of work to maximise the number of homes we can deliver. But we鈥檙e also investing in existing homes and revolutionising housing to provide safer, warmer, and more enjoyable places to live.
鈥淎s we carry out this work, there is a real opportunity to work with staff and Trade Unions to grow our in-house team and further strengthen our repairs service, to provide the very best customer service and value for money we can. This is a complex piece of work but we鈥檙e committed to exploring opportunities for upskilling and apprenticeships in the years ahead.鈥�
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